Method of forming a wer



July 5, 1938. E. HURST El AL METHOD OF FORMING- A WEB Original Filed May17. 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORY.

o eaacao July5, 1938. E. HURST ET AL METHOD OF FORMING A'WEB OriginalFiled May 17, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 5, 1938 PATENT OFFICEMETHOD OF PORIIING A was aaetta Original application 21,948. Divided1936, Serial No. 78,888

I 17, 1'85. SerialNo. andthiaapplicaticn 2 Claim (CI. 154-2) Thisinvention relates to a novel and improved method of forming a web, andis a division of our copending application, Ser. No. 21,948, filed May17, 1935. The novel features will be best understood from the followingdescription and the annexed drawings, in which we have showndiagrammatically certain selected methods by which the web may beformed.

In those drawings:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic view in the form of a vertical section showingone form of apparatus which may be used;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the structure appearing in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view similar to a part of Fig. 1, but showing aslight modification of the apparatus used in practicing the method, herealso the apparatus being shown very diagrammatically;

Fig. 4 is a view approximately on the line 4-4 of Fig- 3;

Fig. 5 is a view on the same plane as Fig. 1, showing the formation ofthe web but on a great- 1y enlarged scale;

Figs. 6 and 7 are views showing samples of web designs which may beachieved according to our invention.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2, and 5, we have shown therein an apparatussimilar in many re- 30 spects to that more fully described and claimedin our Patent No. 2,055,412. This apparatus comprises means for forminga plurality of membranes, such means being exemplified by a plurality ofcards I mounted upon a fioor 2 and com- 35 prising dofier cylinders 3and combs 4. The cards may have any suitable and usual construction andmay be used to act upon any suitable fibrous material, although cottonfiber has been found most advantageous for many purposes.

The fibers are formed by the card into a thin membrane or lap, assometimes called in the art, and this membrane, after removal by thecomb, is passed through an orifice 5 in the fioor on to a moving andvibrating conveyor 6. In its pas- 45 sage through the orifice, eachmembrane 1 may be subjected to an aerodynamic weaving action,

in a manner described in Patent No. 2,055,411.

Briefly, the aerodynamic weaving action referred to comprises thepassing or air through 5 the membrane in such a way as to change thepositions of individual fibers within the membrane relatively to eachother and thus to cause them to interlock with each other, without anydisturbance of the continuity of the membrane.

55 Then the'membranes are placed one on top of another upon the conveyorapproximately within the same lateral limits, preferably from positionsdisplaced laterally of the conveyor with respect to each other.Preferably also. the conveyor is given a continuous but gentle agitationor vibration, and after the web leaves the conveyor it is flexed or bentback and forth between rollers, but without presure. All these steps aidin causing the fibers of the various membranes to become loosened anddisplaced from the pomtions that they occupied in the membranes as thosemembranes left the cards, and also causes the fibers in the membranes tobecome interengaged and interwoven with each other and with the fibersof the other membranes to form a substantially unlaminated web, in whichthe fibers extend in a multiplicity of different directions and aredisposed in a multiplicity of different planes. The fibers are then heldin their interwoven and interengaged positions by a suitable adhesive orimpregnating material, such as rubber latex, which may be applied at thebath 0, after which the web may be dried as on a festoon drier 0.

By the method of forming the web, the fibers within each membrane arecaused to interweave and interlock, both by the action to which they aresubjected at an orifice I and also by the other steps referred to insaid copending applications. Likewise, the fibers of one membrane arecaused to interlock and Interweave with those of adjacent membranes sothat a non-laminated web is formed in which the fibers of adjacentmembranes are interwoven together to substantially the same extent asare the fibers within each membrane so as to form a substantiallyhomogeneously woven fibrous web having substantial stre sth- The fibersin the web are caused to extend in a multiplicity of difierent definitedirections and are disposed in a multiplicity of different definiteplanes.

The web thus manufactured may be used for various purposes, eitherutilitarian or ornamental, or both. We have found that the product maybe used for decorative purposes to good advantage and that a widevariety of designs and color effects may be obtained. For example, thefibrous material supplied to one card may be previously dyed to oneselected color, and the materialsuppliedtotheothercarmmaybedyed to otherdistinctive colors, all before being acted uponbythecards.Theneachmembraneasit leaves the card, has a'coior which is distinctiveandmualkdifierentfromthatofanyother manhrane used to form the web.

Then when the variously colored membranes are brought tegether into oneweb by the interweaving action mentioned above and more fuliy describedand claimed in the aforesaid copending applications, the result is thatthe fibers of one membrane will be mixed with thwe ofother membranes invarying degrees, thus causing a greater or less blending of the colorsof the various membranes. For example, we have found that theinterweaving action is so great that oftentimes fibers in the membraneadjacent one surface of the web will weave through the other membranesand show at the opposite surface of the web. The result is a novel webin which the color effects have-an infinite variety which cannot beobtained by any other method known to us.

The web may be given stili another distinctive design by incorporatingtherein other elements preferably having distinctive designs or colors,al-

though such elements may be used merely to vary the form of the surfaceof the web. These elements may be separate and distinct from each other,or they may be in the form of threads of a fabric either woven or knitor secured together in any other way, or in any other desired form.

A sheet of fabric or other desired material may be incorporated in thebody of the web as indicated in Figs. 1, 2, and 5. In Figs. 1 and 2 wehave shown a roll In of fabric mounted upon driven rolls H and passingthrough an orifice l2 in the floor. 'It may be guided by an apron B onto one of the membranes I on the conveyor. This apron is preferably madeof foraminous material or is otherwise provided with perforations so asto permit the ready passage of air therethrough and through the materialsupported thereby.

For the purposes of illustration only, we have shown the sheet I4 asbeing disposed in the web with two membranes on either side therect. Itis to be understood, however, that this positioning of the sheet mayvary, as we have found that we can. even place the sheet with all of themembranes on one side thereof, and in fact satisfactory web material hasbeen thus made. The rolls ll contact with the periphery of the roll i0,and thus the sheet I4 is fed at uniform speed through the orifice II,this speed normally being that of the top run of the conveyor 6. If

desired, it may be made greater than the speed of the conveyor, thusobtaining a crinkly efiect of the sheet, but if it is made less than thespeed of the conveyor, it is very apt to tear the web.

The sheet of fabric should preferably have a large number of intersticestherein, and these interstices are preferably large ones so that thefibers of the web membranes may passthrough the interstices andinterlock and interweate with the threads of the fabric. For the purposeof convenience, we shall refer to the fabric as being made of threads,using that term broadly to include yarns or any other elements of whichfabric may be formed.

Referring to 5, we have shown therein two of the membranes I with thesheet I 4 of fabric therebetween, and have indicated diagrammaticallyhow the fibers of the two membranes pass through the interstices ofthe.fabric whereby the web membranes and the fabric sheet becomethoroughly interwoven and united.

The fabric lends strength to the web and likewise provides a furthermeans of ornamentation. If the sheet is made of a non-distinctive color.it may be used merely to give a desired contour to the surfaces of theweb. On the other hand, if desired, the fabric may be made of adistinctive color or, for example, may be made of one distinctive coloron one side thereof and another distinctive color on the opposite sidethereof. with these suggestions, it will be seen that the possibilitiesof a wide variety of pleasing designs is an infinite one. i

In Flgs.3and 4we have shown diagrammatically how elements other thanfabric threads may incorporated into the body of the web. We haveindicated a belt conveyor [5 which may be driven by any suitable means,not shown, and is adapted to discharge material through an orifice IS inthe floor 2, this material being guided to the upper reach of theconveyor 6 by means of an apron l1. 1 The material may be received inone or a plurality of hoppers l8 disposed over the conveyor. We haveshown a. plurality of these hoppers to receive different kinds ofelements, thus indicating the fact that the elements incorporated in theweb may be conveniently varied according to the designs which it isdesired to achieve.

The elements which may be used vary widely. For example, we have foundthat grains of sawdust, either plain or colored, maybe used to tellingadvantage. Similarly, pieces of tinsel or tinsel wire may be employed.In any event, the elements which are fed on to the conveyor are engagedby the fibers of the membranes with which they come in contact andsecurely interlocked therewith and thus incorporated into the body ofthe web.

The web thus made even without impregnation by rubber latex or the likeis a novel product, the advantages of which are increased by treating itwith a bath of suitable impregnating material, such as rubber latex,which gives it all the durability and other advantages known in the art.

In Figs. 6 and 'I we have shown examples of various designs which may beachieved. For example, in Fig. 6 is shown a section of web havingembodied therein a very loosely woven fabric, the elements IQ of whichare so loosely woven as to crinE-zle easily and provide largeinterstices 20 therebetween through which the fibers of the membranesmay pass and interlock with the threads of the fabric. In Fig. '7 shownanother design which has been achieved and in which grains 23 of sawdusthave been used. By using such a sawdust of different kinds of wood ordifferently colored, a wide variety of color effects and designs may beobtained.

For the purposes of illustration we have referred above to the sheetincorporatd iii the web as a sheet of fabric, and such sheetshave beenused with very satisfactory results However, the invention is notlimited to fabric, as other sheets may be employed, particularly fordecorative purposes and forpurposes of getting a design which may befound to be desirable. For example, a sheet of any suitable material,fabric or otherwise, may be provided with a picture or other design andthen one or more membranes may be secured to the sheet, therebypartially veiling the picture'or design. When the membranes are formedof cotton fibers which are translucent or semi-translucent in character,a certain amount of light may pass through those fibers themseives, andstill more light may pass through the interstices between the fibers toilluminate the picture or design. By varying the number of membranes, orthe amount of material in each membrane, or both, various combinationsmay be obtained which will veil the picture or design to greater or lessdegree.

Similarly, it will be-evident that the eflect of depth is obtained bythe fact that the picture or design is disposed on the interior of theweb, and the effect of the depth may be increased by the thickness ofthe membrane or membranes placed over it.

The designs may be formed in any desired way and on a wide variety ofmaterials, for example by methods known as parterre, applique, orsilhouetting. Whatever method is used, however, in forming the design ofa sheet, it will be evident that such design may be combined with thefibrous membranes in such a way as to tone down or otherwise modify thedesign.

As a further example, a distinctive design may be formed on a sheet, anda distinctive design may belikewise formed on the membranes combinedwith the sheet. The membrane designs may be formed on each membrane oron a combination of several membranes as desired, and when the membranesare then united with the sheet, a composite design is achieved.Likewise, it will be obvious that a composite design may be achieved byforming distinctive designs on a plurality of membranes which whenunited will form a composite design. A distinctive design may be formedon a web made. according to the methods outlined in the aforesaidcopending applications, and then this web may be combined with othermembranes having distinctive designs, all forming a composite design.

The above examples are given merely to point out the possibilities ofthe invention, and are not limitations thereon. Various changes may bemade in the illustrated method, and we do not intend to limit ourselvesexcept by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. The method of'forming a web which comprises Iorming a plurality ofcarded membranes of unspun fibers, loosening and displacing theindividual fibers in each membrane from the positions they occupied inthe membranes as they left the cards, superposing said membranes one onanother, interposing between adjacent membranes a multiplicity ofelements other than the fibers of which the membranes are composed,interengaging and interweaving the fibers of the membranes on oppositesides of said elements with each other and with said elements, andimpregnating the web thus formed with an adhesive.

2. The method of forming a web which comprises forming a plurality ofcarded membranes of unspun fibers, loosening and displacing theindividual fibers in each membrane from the positions they occupied inthe membranes as they left the cards, superposing said membranes one onanother, placing in contact with one of said membranes a multiplicity ofelements other than the fibers of which the membranes are composed,interengaging and interweaving the fibers of the membranes with eachother and with said elements, and impregnating the web thus formed withan adhesive.

EDWARD mms'r. mnucx CRANE.

